Leicester Tigers hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau says he wants to start “giving back” as quickly as possible as he settles into life with his new club.

The Australia international, who only arrived at Tigers in mid-December, made his first start in the defeat by Exeter Chiefs on New Year’s Eve and wants to move on from that as quickly as possible.

He firmly believes that Tigers are a much better side than ninth in the Premiership table would suggest need to ensure that they get the basics of their game right. If they can do that, they will start to progress.

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“The squad have been unbelievable,” Polota-Nau said on is welcome at Tigers. “I had no idea where I should be on the field. The guys have been great in getting me to understand the terminology and talking to me on the field. That has been the biggest help to me as a player.

“Saying that, now I have to make sure I give back to them in terms of defence and ball carrying.”

The Wallabies star says Tigers have to produce more of what they showed in the first half, and the early stages of the second half, at Sandy Park when they host London Irish this weekend.

“We need to be brilliant at our basics. Once we nail that we will be hard to stop,” he said. “The first half we were brilliant at Exeter, we need to keep repeating it. All I can do is keep encouraging the guys to do more of the same and be hungrier to dive on the loose ball.”

Polota-Nau says that was one of the significant differences between the sides in Devon as the Chiefs scored four second-half tries to consolidate their position at the top of the table.

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“Unfortunately in the second half they were better at retaining possession and making the most of their opportunities,” he said.

“I think we just need to be better understanding that we need to retain the ball against a dominant side like that.

“It is an understanding of what we are capable of. We showed that in passages in the first half. We did well in terms of defence to spoil their ball but also once we got the ball we got it to the edges and got some good front foot ball.

“It is keeping that consistent. That is our biggest issue.

“It is no surprise they are top of the Premiership. We can take a few pages from their book but in saying that we are more than capable of controlling our own destiny from here.”